Volunteers serve at many shelters across Central Virginia and in Colonial Heights volunteers arrive, take a dog and then go for a walk on a nearby river walk.

"Spud"

"These dogs sit in a kennel 24 hours a day," longtime volunteer Heidi Mirro explained. "Typically, the only time they get out, they get to walk, they get to exercise, they get to interact and socialize with people, is when the volunteers come in -- especially on the weekends."

Sources said the two teens signed up to volunteer last Saturday and took out a Terrier-Mix named "Spud."

However, a short time later, witnesses said the pair were spotted on the trail near the shelter hitting and pushing down on the animal.

"I would like to hope they thought there were handling the situation the way they should correct it," said Kasey Herrera, a longtime shelter volunteer who owns her on dog training business. "Unfortunately, the way they handled that situation was to the detriment of the dog."

Court documents show Kalob Powell and Kersten Pruitt were both charged with one count of Misdemeanor Animal Cruelty.

"To scare him of humans even worse what he could have already been, you know is deplorable," Mirro said.

Herrera has been, who has been working with "Spud" for some time, is now afraid of the damage the alleged violence may have caused.

"This is going to set him back quite a bit," she said.

CBS 6 reached out to Pruitt's attorney, but he was unable to comment since he had just taken on the case and had not been "fully briefed" by his client.